Mumbai rains: 5 feared dead, people advised to stay indoors

Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Torrential rains lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and other parts of Maharashtra for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, severely affecting normal life and paralysing the lifelines -- local train and bus services -- in the state capital and leading the state government and civic authorities to sound a high alert.

Five people were feared drowned in Thane due to flooding caused by heavy downpour, said an official of Regional Disaster Management Cell of Thane Municipal Corporation.

The Met Department on Tuesday warned of more 'heavy intermittent spells' in the next 24 hours in Mumbai and its satellite cities where incessant downpour has thrown normal life out of gear

The Mumbai police have asked people who have got stranded due to heavy rainfall to dial police emergency no 100 or send message on their Twitter handle to seek any kind of assistance. Thousands of Mumbaikars were stranded on railway stations and other places due to disruption in train services, water-logging on streets and slow movement of road traffic.

Police personnel have fanned out on streets and lending a helping hand to the Mumbaikars who are in distress, an official said.

The continuous downpour has resulted in water-logging in several areas due to which vehicular traffic has come to a standstill. Mumbai Police have urged people to stay indoors.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the situation in Mumbai as heavy rainfall continued to batter the city.

Trains have been delayed due to waterlogging and a technical failure at Bandra station and severe traffic snarls have been reported as well.

Torrential rains lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and other parts of Maharashtra for the fourth consecutive day, severely affecting normal life and also paralysed local train and bus services in the state capital.

Many parts of Mumbai and suburbs were inundated with upto three to four feet of water, on the highways, main and arterial roads, bylanes, housing complexes, railway stations and even the Mumbai Airport.

Waterlogging was reported from several areas such as Lalbaug, Sion, Hindmata, Mulund, Parel, and Dadar. The Bandra-Worli sea link was shut for traffic moving towards south Mumbai due to poor visibility

However, barring incidents of tree collapse in different parts of the city, flooding and waterlogging, there have been no reports of any casualties so far.

Also read - Mumbai: Continuous rain leads to rise in water stock in reservoirs

There has been a 15-20 minute delay in flight services. Two flights have been diverted due to the continuous downpour.

The torrential rains are also likely to hit the immersion ceremonies on the fifth day of the Ganeshotsav on Tuesday.

Train status

The suburban local train was massively hit with disruption in services as the railway tracks were flooded at several places on the Central Railway mainline, Harbour Line, Western Railway and Konkan Railway. Lakhs of commuters were stranded in trains, railway stations or at bus stops. Many failed to reach their destinations and were compelled to return to their homes.

Flight status

The rains have affected normal operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with flights getting delayed by 15-20 minutes mainly on account of low visibility. Five arriving flights were made to go around till landing permission was granted while two flights were diverted. Domestic and international passengers bound for the airport to catch their flights faced huge problems in reaching on time due to massive traffic snarls on the highways and main roads.

Update:

Bandra station is flooded and train services have been affected. Certain trains along the Western line have been hit.

Also read: Mumbai Rains: Met department predicts heavy to very heavy rainfall over next two days

Traffic Update:
The rains have affected traffic as well with several spots on the Western Express highway being jammed. Apart from that JVLR also has a traffic jam along the stretch that runs over Masjid Wadi. All in all expect to experience traffic snarls along your commute in suburban Mumbai.

Update
Waterlogging has been reported from Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Bandra, Matunga, Dadar, Elphinstone, Mumbai Central, Mazagaon, Lalbaug, Parel, Sion, Wadala, Bhandup and other areas.

The Mumbai Police tweeted...

Also read: Thane: Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto express derails near Asangaon

Rainfall recorded so far:
According to the met department, between 8am on August 27 to 8am on August 28, Mumbai recorded 102mm of rainfall. Worli recorded 63.75mm of rains, Byculla recorded 78.21 mm, Bhandup 90.63 mm and Vikhroli, 111.96 mm.